And they're off and running
By Nie Xin |
July 16, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RUNNING for charity is popular around the world and in Shanghai too there are many clubs putting their best foot forward. Nie Xin gives them a run for money.
Team Asia Runners Club, which has more than 200 regular members from China and Japan, runs for survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the 2011 Fukushima tsunami and nuclear disaster and for poor school children in China.
On July 1, more than 100 Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean and American runners from various clubs took part in TARC's Ekiden (Japanese for "relay-race"), raising 9,126 yuan (US$1,448) in donations to help the victims of Sichuan earthquake and Japan tsunami.
In September, TARC representatives, working with a Japanese sporting goods company Mizuno, will head to Sichuan Province for the opening ceremony for a new primary school in a poor region of Sichuan.
The school is the He Cai Hong (Tea River Rainbow) Hope Primary School in Xuanhan County.
Runners will present 300 pairs of running shoes to students, teach them how to tie their shoelaces properly and how to run fast.
TARC is the result of a merger between two running clubs, Team Asia and Shanghai Runners Club, according to the club's charity event organizer, 36-year-old Tomomi Yano, a Japanese housewife who has been in Shanghai for five years.
The club has been involved in charity work for a little more than a year. Last spring it staged its first run to help survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.
It has raised 10,000-20,000 yuan (US$1,587-3,174) for the needy in Japan and in poor areas of Sichuan.
TARC plans to sponsor two runners from Japan, survivors of the disaster, to run in the Shanghai Marathon in December.
To help other survivors in Japan, TARC runs the 1K1Yuan project, donating 1 yuan per 1 kilometer run.
"1K1Yuan matches our giving to our love of running," American runner Joe Burnett says. Most regular runners take part and donate according to their training distance, he says.
At the end of May 2011, TARC sent around 15,000 yuan to Japan through the Japanese consulate in Shanghai.
"None of us are professional runners. We all run for fun as amateurs," Burnett says. "We can run whenever we feel like. We can set our own goals and train to meet that."
Some of them are pretty fast, though. The fastest male marathon time is 2 hours 49 minutes and the fastest woman ran 3 hours and 1 minute, according to Burnett.
"The more we run for ourselves, the more we can contribute. The idea gives us more power and motivation," Burnett adds.
TARC sent T-shirts, shoes and towels members had won at various races to Japan through a running organization @Runner.
Since last October, the runners have donated half the 1K1Yuan contributions to poor children in China.
"By giving back to Chinese children, we hope to convey our appreciation for leading such comfortable lives in their home country," says charity function chairwoman Yano.
Runners set up a used book library to raise money for children. Donors take used books to the library, then the books are sold at special charity running events. Buyers return them, so they can be sold again.
"So far the TARC library is quite successful. Many people are interested in sharing their favorite books, so it serves a real need and raises money for charity," Yano says.
At each library gathering, 20 to 30 people donate books.
"It's not easy, but it is extremely rewarding to give something back to my native country and also my adopted one," Yano says.
Contact shiyepengsi@yahoo.co.jp (organizer's e-mail) for more information.
Team Asia Runners Club, which has more than 200 regular members from China and Japan, runs for survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the 2011 Fukushima tsunami and nuclear disaster and for poor school children in China.
On July 1, more than 100 Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean and American runners from various clubs took part in TARC's Ekiden (Japanese for "relay-race"), raising 9,126 yuan (US$1,448) in donations to help the victims of Sichuan earthquake and Japan tsunami.
In September, TARC representatives, working with a Japanese sporting goods company Mizuno, will head to Sichuan Province for the opening ceremony for a new primary school in a poor region of Sichuan.
The school is the He Cai Hong (Tea River Rainbow) Hope Primary School in Xuanhan County.
Runners will present 300 pairs of running shoes to students, teach them how to tie their shoelaces properly and how to run fast.
TARC is the result of a merger between two running clubs, Team Asia and Shanghai Runners Club, according to the club's charity event organizer, 36-year-old Tomomi Yano, a Japanese housewife who has been in Shanghai for five years.
The club has been involved in charity work for a little more than a year. Last spring it staged its first run to help survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March.
It has raised 10,000-20,000 yuan (US$1,587-3,174) for the needy in Japan and in poor areas of Sichuan.
TARC plans to sponsor two runners from Japan, survivors of the disaster, to run in the Shanghai Marathon in December.
To help other survivors in Japan, TARC runs the 1K1Yuan project, donating 1 yuan per 1 kilometer run.
"1K1Yuan matches our giving to our love of running," American runner Joe Burnett says. Most regular runners take part and donate according to their training distance, he says.
At the end of May 2011, TARC sent around 15,000 yuan to Japan through the Japanese consulate in Shanghai.
"None of us are professional runners. We all run for fun as amateurs," Burnett says. "We can run whenever we feel like. We can set our own goals and train to meet that."
Some of them are pretty fast, though. The fastest male marathon time is 2 hours 49 minutes and the fastest woman ran 3 hours and 1 minute, according to Burnett.
"The more we run for ourselves, the more we can contribute. The idea gives us more power and motivation," Burnett adds.
TARC sent T-shirts, shoes and towels members had won at various races to Japan through a running organization @Runner.
Since last October, the runners have donated half the 1K1Yuan contributions to poor children in China.
"By giving back to Chinese children, we hope to convey our appreciation for leading such comfortable lives in their home country," says charity function chairwoman Yano.
Runners set up a used book library to raise money for children. Donors take used books to the library, then the books are sold at special charity running events. Buyers return them, so they can be sold again.
"So far the TARC library is quite successful. Many people are interested in sharing their favorite books, so it serves a real need and raises money for charity," Yano says.
At each library gathering, 20 to 30 people donate books.
"It's not easy, but it is extremely rewarding to give something back to my native country and also my adopted one," Yano says.
Contact shiyepengsi@yahoo.co.jp (organizer's e-mail) for more information.
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